


don't look at the child underneath the floorboards

by Kosaji



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-18 21:55:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22000459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kosaji/pseuds/Kosaji
Summary: Happiness is based on a just discrimination of what is necessary, what is neither necessary nor destructive, and what is destructive.- The Ones Who Walk Away From OmelasUrsula K. Le GuinIn which truths are realized and a choice is made.
Relationships: Sawada Tsunayoshi & Vongola Tenth Generation Guardians
Comments: 18
Kudos: 217
Collections: 2019 KHR Winter Remix Fest Round 2: Remixes





	1. The Ones Who Walked Away

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Constantly_Oscitating](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Constantly_Oscitating/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Welcome to Omelas](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21285431) by Anonymous. 



> _"How can I tell you about the people of_ _Omelas_ _? They were not naive and happy children – though their children were, in fact, happy. They were mature, intelligent, passionate adults whose lives were not wretched. O miracle! … I wish I could convince you_.”

_\- The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas  
Ursula K. Le Guin _

_Don’t look. Don’t see._

Gokudera's pen snaps and he curses as ink and plastic get all over his report. “Dammit,” he mumbles under his breath, pushing away from the desk with a disgusted sigh.

Ever since he had moved into the Iron Fort along with Tsuna and the rest of their group Gokudera has had an uneasy feeling. The move to Italy should be something worth celebrating, Tsuna’s rise to Vongola Decimo- no Neo Vongola Primo and the establishment of a successful tenth Vongola generation should make him happy.

And he is happy, happy and proud to support Tsuna in this transition, even if it is more paperwork and less of the crazy world ending shenanigans of their youth. 

“Tch,” Gokudera wipes the ink away with a tissue and decides that he’s been cooped up inside for too long. He exits his office, a cramped little corner room near the lab where Shoichi and Spanner set up shop. The scent of metal and oil fill his nose but he doesn’t hear any of the familiar clangs of a robot match so he leaves the lab alone, opting to walk through the more lavishly decorated hallways in the upper floors of the fort. 

There are a few empty spaces along the hallway, just waiting for him to sign off on the transfer of new artwork to replace the mirrors Tsuna ordered taken down. Not that he understood why, but he still supported the decision, making sure that Tsuna’s rooms and the path leading between his suite and office areas were cleared first. 

Speaking of which, where was Tsuna? Gokudera bites his lip, digging into his pocket for his e-cigarette. He sucks in a drag and walks outside, taking in the scenery. The Iron Fort despite its severe name has some lovely views of the surrounding forest. 

If you ignore the armed guards stationed everywhere, and the cameras at any rate. Its for their own safety but sometimes Gokudera can’t help but feel like he’s back in a different castle, in another fishbowl again.

A flash of brown catches his eyes and he turns to see Tsuna talking to a couple of maids who are holding up a polished metal tea set, probably ordered for the more unruly guests (or when Hibari and Mukuro are in the same room).

He raises his hand in greeting as Tsuna finishes talking when he sees it. One of the maids lifts the polished metal tray, obviously finished with her business, when Tsuna’s eyes catch on the surface and he _flinches_.

Gokudera is frozen, watching the way Tsuna’s mouth tenses, and his eyes darken before he rips his gaze away from his reflection, pasting on what Gokudera never knew, never realized was a fake smile before walking back into the Fort.

That was nothing, right? It had to be nothing because otherwise…

The e cig snaps in his hands, but Gokudera doesn’t register it, too caught up in thinking about the first order Tsuna gave when they first settled into the Fort.

“Remove all the mirrors.” was what he said, succinct and short, his eyes far away as he gave the order. Gokudera didn’t think much of it at the time, too busy trying to get a handle on the day to day running of the Fort. If Tsuna didn’t like mirrors then who was he to argue?

Except now it looks like he overlooked something serious. Something that as Tsuna’s Right Hand, as Tsuna’s _best friend_ he should have noticed. 

There was something wrong with Tsuna.

> _"A child of nine or ten sits at the edge of the crowd, alone, playing on a wooden flute. People pause to listen, and they smile, but they do not speak to him, for he never ceases playing and never sees them, his dark eyes wholly rapt in the sweet, thin magic of the tune."_

_\- The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas  
Ursula K. Le Guin _

_Shhh_ _, don’t look child. Keep on playing, and everything will be alright_

Lambo is fifteen years old and more focused on getting I-pin to stop nagging on him than any of his studies.

Unless its weapons training, then he follows Levi around, getting a kick at the older man’s face as all his lightning attacks just bounce off his skin. 

Tsuna-nii always has a frown on is face when he sees Lambo come from the training sessions though, and Lambo starts hiding when he’s been training with any of the Varia.

He’s been hiding a lot from Tsuna-nii nowadays actually…

It’s not like he _means_ to! It’s just sometimes he looks at Tsuna-nii and gets the feeling that something _isn’t right,_ that something is wrong but whenever he asks Tsuna-nii just gives him a fond look ( ~~ _I’m old enough to help l et me help_~~) and pats his head.

It just became easier, especially since everyone moved to Italy to just… not see Tsuna-nii as often, to bury himself in learning how to fight better, to flirt with girls, to do enough of his schoolwork to get I-pin and Gokudera off his back so he can go back to playing.

He still gets the feeling of wrong when he looks at Tsuna-nii, but no one else seems to see it and Tsuna-nii keeps telling Lambo he’s alright so maybe he’s just thinking about it too much.

> _"Do you believe? Do you accept the festival, the city, the joy? No? Then let me describe one more thing."_

_\- The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas  
Ursula K. Le Guin _

_You’ll keep this secret won’t you? Won’t you?_

People look at Ryouhei and think, loud. Maybe the more generous would say he’s boisterous and high energy but they all think the same when you pull back all the pretty words and rip away the hands covering sly smirks.

Stupid, simple, a muscle head who wants to do nothing but fight.

And to be fair, Ryouhei does want to fight. Enjoys it much to the despair of his sister. 

But he isn’t stupid. 

What drew him to Tsuna, to the group but Tsuna mainly was his fighting spirit.

He still remembers the first time he saw Tsuna fight, actually fight for something with his entire being, naked except for his underwear and screaming out his defiance to the world.

There’s none of that fire now. 

Oh sure he still _lights up_ when the situation calls for it, orange flames dancing in controlled pulses on his forehead (not wild and free) and shooting through his hands, incinerating all enemies without mercy.

Tsuna always used to have mercy. That’s gone too.

He thinks that Yamamoto and Gokudera are starting to see it, with the way they hover and shoot worried looks at Tsuna. Tsuna notices too, not that much escapes him nowadays. So Ryouhei makes sure that he keeps acting the same, the one stable, reliable thing while Tsuna fights through whatever storm is tearing at him.

He has faith that Tsuna would be okay, but until then he will keep on playing the dumb “Oni-san”, and be there for Tsuna.

He hopes it is enough.

(He’s not stupid, he knows that. But as the days get longer, and the realization that whatever Tsuna is struggling with has been going on much, much longer that he knew makes him call himself all kinds of fool.)

> _"In a basement under one of the beautiful public buildings of Omelas, or perhaps in the cellar of one of its spacious private homes, there is a room. It has one locked door, and no window… The floor is dirt, a little damp to the touch, as cellar dirt usually is. The room is about three paces long and two wide: a mere broom closet or disused tool room. In the room a child is sitting.”_

_\- The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas  
Ursula K. Le Guin _

_Don’t get too close._

Yamamoto prides himself on being observant. Not that you could tell, given how often he like goofing off, but humor, he finds, is the number one method of throwing people off. Either to get them from prying to close to what he wants to stay hidden or just knocking people’s perceptions of him. Either way, it let him see things that others would ignore or just overlook, not one paid attention to the dumb jock.

Though Yamamoto would admit that he did have some dumb jock moments, he thinks ruefully as he dodges into the staircase when he sees Bianchi’s pink hair and the plate of poison cooking in her arms.

It’s not like he MEANT to insult her cooking (or that Gokudera prefers his to hers. Not that he was dumb enough to tell her that.)

Anyways, the point is that he likes that people underestimate him. That it allows him to watch Tsuna’s back, to catch things Gokudera misses when he’s busy trying to keep everything else running smoothly.

And yet somehow he manages to miss the most important things.

He watches with wide eyes as Tsuna, strong, bright, honest Tsuna say goodbye to a guest, walking them to the elevator, a warm smile on his face until the elevator has descended. He doesn’t think Tsuna notices him, and he watches with a sick feeling in his stomach as Tsuna’s smile turns from warm to plastic. It reminds him eerily of the way he used to try and practice smiling in front of the mirror, trying to _fake_ , and _act_ and _play_ at being normal until it became second nature. Tsuna stares at the polished surface of the elevator, eyes averted to some point off in the distance as his hands shake and Yamamoto doesn’t know what’s _wrong_.

(Nothing fixed him until Tsuna came along)

He follows Tsuna silently, which already has alarm bells ringing because Tsuna is always aware of his surroundings, shoulders tense and eyes watching, always watching.

(He doesn’t think its strange anymore, that they all have that tension in their bodies. It’s been the norm for them since middle school. Longer, he thinks back to Mukuro and Gokudera and even I-pin and Lambo, for some of them.)

He stops when Tsuna stops, just out of sight as Tsuna clenches both hands tightly, knuckles white before releasing with a short, sharp breath. The tension along his shoulders is still there though, and Yamamoto realizes, finally, what has his hackles up about this quiet version of Tsuna.

His eyes hold no light.

> _"The door is always locked; and nobody ever comes, except that sometimes—the child has no understanding of time or interval—sometimes the door rattles terribly and opens, and a person, or several people, are there. One of them may come in and kick the child to make it stand up. The others never come close, but peer in at it with frightened, disgusted eyes."_

_\- The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas  
Ursula K. Le Guin _

_Don’t question it, all things are done for a reason._

Hibari as a rule doesn’t like crowds. They are the antithesis of order and control, people moving into each other’s space, moving together like little sheep who think a larger group would be able to better protect them from the wolves.

No, crowding just lets the wolves hide among the sheep better.

He watches from his spot on the balcony as the mafioso circle around the members of the group he reluctantly considers his, pulling them into conversations with blades hiding behind every smile, acid ready to be thrown at any misstep. 

How boring, if they had the confidence to take them head on Hibari wouldn’t mind stepping in. He hasn’t had a good fight in a while, bouncing between Japan and Sicily, getting the Foundation up and running.

Running independently, most importantly. His eyes narrow as footsteps approach him from behind, and turns to see Tsuna walking alongside the Vongola Ninth.

Tch.

“Kyouya-kun!” he glares at the use of his first name, something that the old man ignores with an indulgent smile. “How are you settling in? I hear this is the longest you have stayed in the Iron Fort?” Beside him Tsuna smiles blandly, another thing that has his glare deepening. 

“I have duties outside of Japan to attend to,” short simple. Nothing more than the old man needs to know. He catches the purse of Tsuna’s lips too late and realizes that he has stepped into the conniving fox’s trap. 

“Ah, the Foundation correct? I have heard such good things about the research performed there. Do you think it would be possible for some of our people to study there? I heard that its rather difficult to get into at the moment.” 

Hibari holds back a derisive snort. Sure, bring the Vongola, who he is emphatically keeping out of his organization, into the Foundation. If he was foolish enough to allow that he would deserve the resulting theft of all the proprietary research being performed there. No, Hibari keeps his Foundation free from the greedy grasp of the Vongola, and he will ensure it stays that way.

“I think Hibari would like to keep the two organizations separate, Grandpa,” Tsuna interjects as the silence stretches between the three of them. Hibari turns his glare towards Tsuna now, not needing the other to fight his battles for him.

He’s already losing enough of his own.

The Ninth just hums contemplatively, seemingly standing down at his heir’s interference. “That maybe be so, but would it not be better for both groups to join together? There is strength in numbers after all, and while I do not doubt your leadership skills Kyouya-kun, the Vongola have scientists with years of experience running research laboratories,” he says leadingly, the point about strength not escaping either Hibari or Tsuna. 

“I’ll think about it,” Hibari finally says after another tension filled silence.

“Excellent!” the Ninth beams before turning to Tsuna, “I’ll be sure to pass along a few names. Tsuna, why don’t we head on back down, there are a few people I would like you to meet.”

Hibari watches at Tsuna nods and walks alongside the Ninth. On the outside they appear to be an old man and his grandson, as long as you ignored the way Tsuna avoided touch, the haunted look in his eyes growing deeper with every word about alliances and maintaining the Vongola’s strength passes the Ninth’s lip, last minute advice to the new Boss as the Ninth finishes passing over the reigns fully to Tsuna.

With every day he spends here Hibari just sees more and more tethers hooking into Tsuna and dragging him further down.

He doesn’t know how long it has been since Tsuna stopped struggling against the weight. 

He doesn’t know what it means now after he’s noticed, that he realizes he doesn’t like it.

> _"They all understand that their happiness … depend wholly on this child’s abominable misery.The terms are strict and absolute; there may not even be a kind word spoken to the child."_

_\- The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas  
Ursula K. Le Guin _

_There are rules for a reason, don’t rock the boat._

The thing is, Mukuro has always been aware of the nastiness of the mafia, but its only as he grows older that he truly appreciates what the Sun Arcobaleno and the Vongola Ninth have done to Tsunayoshi.

He was too young, caught up in breaking free of his own prison, then trapped again till a quirk of fate and a boy with fire in his heart freed him from his prison to notice it. By the time he did (circling back once in a while to check on Chrome, too focused on himself and his people to care about those who should have been fine without his protection) it was too late and the cage had already solidified.

It was a masterful cage, Mukuro has to admit even as he abhors it, the very sight of it putting him in a mood for the rest of the day. 

There is a reason he is one of Tsunayoshi’s more illusive Guardians. 

Take a child, weak and clueless to the reality of the world and give them a purpose, a sense of importance. Add in danger to make them reliant on you and your guidance and you have a perfect pawn. Mukuro even applauds the Ninth and Reborn for working around Tsunayoshi’s aversion to violence by giving a lonely boy friends. 

Friends who are just as broken, or easily maneuvered, civilians mostly and even those who aren’t are can be manipulated. Yamamoto and Sasagawa, for all their physical prowess have tempting targets in their families. Lambo was a child, Chrome had his protection but even that is a double edged sword that can be exploited. Gokudera, normally an asset, was hobbled by his devotion to Tsunayoshi, who refused even now to let his friends get hurt for his sake. Hibari, for all he was the strongest of them all (just barely) had a gaping hole in his defenses titled Nanimori. Mukuro watches as slowly Tsunayoshi’s friends and allies start to wake up and realize what the fabric of their reality is woven of, and the despair that fills them at what has happened, what they have allowed to continue.

_(Too late, they were all too late. Why didn’t they notice sooner? Why didn’t he see, recognize it sooner?)_

There is a scared child hiding in the depths of Tsunayoshi’s eyes, and every time he sees it he can hear the same screams that once tore from his own throat.

> _"No matter how well the matter has been explained to them, these young spectators are always shocked and sickened at the sight. They feel disgust… anger, outrage, impotence, despite all the explanations. They would like to do something for the child. But there is nothing they can do. If the child were brought up into the sunlight out of that vile place, if it were cleaned and fed and comforted, that would be a good thing indeed; but if it were done, in that day and hour all the prosperity and beauty and delight of_ _Omelas_ _would wither and be destroyed."_

_\- The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas  
Ursula K. Le Guin _

_J_ _ust keep moving on with your life, everything is fine._

There was a story she read once upon a time. 

It wasn’t a sad story, but it wasn’t a happy one either. Instead it left a sour taste in her mouth, one that lingers as she looks up at Tsuna one day and sees through the mask he built around himself. 

In the story there was a child kept locked up in a basement, and everyone knew about them. About the pain and suffering they went through every day as the people on golden land above thrived without a care. About how no one moving to free that child, because to do so would doom the rest of the golden land and the lives of thousands.

The needs of one seem so small compared to the needs of the many.

It reminds Chrome too much of how her life was like before the accident. Her mother ignored her and her father wasn’t home most of the time, leaving her alone in an empty house that grew smaller and smaller the longer she lived there. 

Ironically it was almost dying that brought her to Mukuro and Tsuna, to freedom and a life in the light.

She watches as Tsuna carefully, and now that she can see it too, now that she knows what to look for. The confidence he shows the world hides trembling hands and the set of his shoulders, now broad enough to shoulder the weight of a bloody legacy slump whenever no one is looking. 

Her boss was suffering, just like she suffered for so long, ignored and overlooked. And like her there was nothing anyone could ( ~~would~~ ) do about it.

> _"But there is one more thing to tell, and this is quite incredible. At times one of the adolescent girls or boys who go to see the child does not go home to weep or rage, does not, in fact, go home at all. Sometimes also a man or woman much older falls silent for a day or two, and then leaves home."_

_\- The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas  
Ursula K. Le Guin _

The thing about family, is that while they might disappoint you, hurt you, or break your heart, they will always have your back. 

Chrome is the first to leave, silently and without a word. There is a panic about her going missing among the Vongola, but mostly over having to deal with Mukuro as Tsuna’s official Mist Guardian rather than the more even tempered and generally well liked Chrome. 

Only Tsuna’s Guardians don’t panic, sharing a knowing look among themselves. Tsuna just sighs and tells everyone that she has his blessings for wanting a life outside of the mafia, despite quick and stringent protests from the rest of the Family. 

Ryouhei wasn’t the easiest to get out, but he was the one to go longest without suspicion, citing medical school as the reason for his absence. By the time people had begun to realize what was going on and searched the Sasagawa residence, Ryouhei and Kyouko were long gone.

Lambo was next, to the surprise of all. Mainly because Gokudera marches up to him (presumably to yell about his studies) only to drag him by the collar into a secure room with Yamamoto and lecture the both of them on secrecy and to _not leave travel brochures out in plain sight do you want to be caught?!_

The next thing he knows they are both on a plane to a different location, but as Yamamoto greets a disguised Chrome casually while Lambo is holding up a sleepy I-pin and three different suitcases while Fuuta and Haru wave at them from behind the wheel of a car (how the hell did he get here? No one even knew Fuuta was gone-) he gets the feeling that he was tricked. 

Hibari was the easiest to get out, fiercely independent as he is, but is one of the last to stay. Partially because without Yamamoto there Gokudera was vastly outnumbered - Mukuro was too busy taking care of arrangements outside the Vongola while Gokudera took care of internal matters to properly watch each other's back. Shoichi and Spanner are quietly moved into Byakuran's protection, leaving only the three of them left to take care of any final matters.

Tsuna watches his remaining Guardians, confused as his world gets smaller and feels like he keeps losing more and more as things start to deteriorate within the Vongola.

When Mukuro leaves Tsuna feels it like a chill over his neck, the constant heavy pressure that was following him for so long all of a sudden _gone_.

He catches Gokudera giving him a concerned look and he straightens up even as it feels like his insides are collapsing as one more thread is pulled from his heart, one more support keeping him upright gone.

Then Hibari leaves without a word. The Vongola and CEDEF are now aware that something is wrong and immediately head to Nanimori. Every agent or member is sent back disoriented and without any memory of what they were doing. 

That catches people attention, and in the brief moment where everyone is concerned over the Rouge Guardians and what it could mean for the Vongola Gokudera slips a cell phone over to Tsuna with an intense look before excusing himself. It's not the way Gokudera looks at him that catches his attention though, and makes him tuck away the phone into his pocket without letting others see.

It's the quiet 'Tsuna' that Gokudera uses to catch his attention. Tsuna, not Tenth. 

There are advantages to being loyal to an absurd degree, no one questions his loyalty to Tsuna, and thus to the Vongola.

But Tsuna is not the Vongola, and Gokudera is first and foremost Tsunayoshi Sawada’s Best Friend.

Gokudera slips away in the middle of the day and later that night the cellphone clutched between Tsuna’s disbelieving fingers lights up with a time and location. 

And finally, as Tsuna looks down at the screen, there is a light shining down on that scared, helpless child. And set of hands all reaching out to pull him away from that crushing cage. 

> _"They leave Omelas, they walk ahead into_  
>  _the darkness, and they do not come back. The place they go towards is a place even less_  
>  _imaginable to most of us than the city of happiness. I cannot describe it at all. It is possible that_  
>  _it does not exist. But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from_  
>  _Omelas._ "

_\- The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas  
Ursula K. Le Guin _


	2. The Ones Who Stayed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are just extra POVs that I thought would have been interesting to explore.

> _" Often the young people go home in tears, or in a tearless rage, when they have seen the child and faced this terrible paradox. They may brood over it for weeks or years. But as time goes on they begin to realize that even if the child could be released, it would not get much good of its freedom: a little vague pleasure of warmth and food, no doubt, but little more."_
> 
> _\- The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas  
>  Ursula K. Le Guin _

Timoteo knew Tsunayoshi was special the minute he saw him light up at seven years old. Bright orange flames, strong ones but carrying a distinct warmth, a softness only children can have.

Xanxus has strong flames as well, but life in the slums has taken away that softness, honed the Wrath flames into a fire that consumes everything in its path. A strong flame, something that would benefit the family. 

Tsunayoshi however is a civilian, as the softness of his flames could attest. He did not need to be pulled into the underbelly of the mafia, turn those flames from a welcoming warmth to an all encompassing inferno. Better to seal them away and keep the child away from the darkness.

Timoteo still remembers those brilliant flames years later when he is facing down a throne without any heirs, and bottom feeders and predators alike circling for any weaknesses. He thinks about how soft and gentle they were, how full of determination and the will to live, and he makes a decision.

He refuses to regret it.

> _“But as time goes on they begin to realize that even if the child could be released, it would not get much good of its freedom: a little vague pleasure of warmth and food, no doubt, but little more. It is too degraded and imbecile to know any real joy."_
> 
> __\- The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas  
>  Ursula K. Le Guin _ _

Basil feels pity for Tsunayoshi.

It is so strange to look at the child of his master, only a few months younger than him but so inexperienced, so unused to the violence and power plays that ruled the Italian underground. 

There is a strong determination in his scared eyes as the Varia bear down on the sleepy Japanese town, a stubborn refusal to bend to the yoke that was his birthright. 

Basil thinks him foolish. Foolish but brave, as the threat of Xanxus forces the young Decimo’s hand. They train for days, every hour a desperate attempt to try an win against an opponent who grew up with violence as a second language, and with the skill to lead the Vongola’s bloodiest unit. Every night Tsunayoshi’s mettle is tested as each of his Guardians are put up against their respective opponents with their lives on the line. How will he deal with the mounting pressure as his friends lives were put at risk? How fast can he improve to be able to stand toe to toe with Xanxus as the deadline to the Sky battle comes closer?

Pretty fast, it turns out. 

And even when he still refuses the mantle of the Decimo, Basil knows it will only be a matter of time before circumstances conspire to force the young boy into that role again. 

He just doesn’t expect it to be a trip to the future and a madman aiming to become a God.

The fight with Byakuran is difficult, more so on the young Vongola tenth generation than the older members of the Varia. Immensely so on Tsunayoshi, who is throwing himself into the fight with grim determination behind every swing of his fists. 

The hardened members of their group fall, and it is the young boy, bruised and beaten and frightened but still bursting with an unwavering determination who ends up the last one standing. 

And Basil vows then and there to become stronger, to support the man that child would no doubt become.

> _"To exchange all the goodness and grace of every life in Omelas for that single, small improvement: to throw away the happiness of thousands for the chance of the happiness of one: that would be to let guilt within the walls indeed.”_
> 
> _\- The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas  
>  Ursula K. Le Guin _

Iemitsu has never been prouder in his entire life.

Tsuna walks down the path to the cars waiting for them, shoulders straight and back firm as he walks away from the broken remains of a Famligia that believed that they could encroach on Vongola territory without repercussion. Beside him and slightly behind Basil walks, guarding the rear. 

The new Don and the successor to the CEDEF enter the car, the driver pulling away as soon as the door closes behind Basil. Iemitsu watches from the rearview mirror as Basil hands a tablet to Tsuna with the reports on any damages the Vongola forces took during the raid.

Iemitsu remembers the pained look in Tsuna’s eyes when the option of retaliation was brought up, the remnants of his civilian childhood. Ultimately he made the right decision, and Iemitsu could not have been prouder.

Iemitsu can see the future of the Vongola, and his son will be the one to lead them all to brighter days. 

> _“ The child used to scream for help at night, and cry a good deal, but now it only makes a kind of whining, “eh- haa, eh-haa,” and it speaks less and less often … Indeed, after so long it would probably be wretched without walls about it to protect it”_

__\- The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas  
Ursula K. Le Guin _ _

When Reborn sees Tsuna and compares the man before him to the child he once was, he feels satisfied. 

The child Tsuna used to be was apathetic, lazy. Content to stew in his own incompetence for as long as anyone let him. The man Reborn sees now is strong, competent. Knowing of the power he wields and willing to use it to achieve his goals. 

Tsuna has goals now, a direction to his life that he didn’t before. Yes, Reborn could see the fight slowly leaving him year after year, as he grew older and more accepting of his role as Decimo. 

Reborn has trouble landing a hit on him when they spar, and the fighting skills Tsuna now possesses are more than enough to keep him and those he holds dear safe from the multitude of enemies the Vongola attract. 

That screaming child that refused to become a mafia boss was slowly and carefully chipped away, the fear replaced by confidence, the loneliness removed with the addition of his Guardians, and that carefully cultivated Will put towards a cause that Tsuna can dedicate his life to. 

Reborn watches as the room turns as one to Tsuna, raising their glasses in toast, looking at him with bright hopeful faces. Reborn raises his glass too, to his student, to his finest creation.

He helped sculpt this strong, steady young man, trimming off the weakness and hammering at the hidden iron, forging him into hardened steel, the type of leader who can take over the reigns of the Vongola and not crumble. 

Reborn drinks to Tsunayoshi Sawada, the Neo-Vongola Primo, and to brighter days to come. 


End file.
